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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

By on July 11, 2009 in Want to see a book in Action? Read the Blog-a-Book Series

I loved this book. It took a little push to get into it because the opening is “soft” meaning the authors started at the “beginning.” The story is also written in letter form, so the characters are telling the story in first person. Common tools authors use to show physical reaction  like “her heart raced” are not employed. This is literary fiction. It follows no genre rules nor could careless that there’s a backlash in the publishing world against first person. Thank you chick lit. (I love first person, btw.) The story doesn’t open with an explosive or even enticing hook. It’s simply an author writing to her publisher and friends about her life in London in the early days of ’46. But then she gets a letter from a […]

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What we learn from The Proposal

By on July 8, 2009 in Want to see a book in Action? Read the Blog-a-Book Series

I loved the movie The Proposal. It has so many good story elements. And who doesn’t like to look at Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds? Yes, there were a few cliche’s in the movie. But the director made them work, added a twist or something to make the cliche not so much the cliche. Susie didn’t like the movie as much as me. So, I sent her an email on why and how the movie worked. See my exhaustive (and brilliant 😉 list below. Spoiler Ahead! Be warned. *** 1. Great casting with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Despite their age difference, they had chemistry on screen. I believed in the relationship and I wanted to stay with them through the end. 2. Sandra (Margaret) created, at least for me, […]

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By on July 6, 2009 in Want to see a book in Action? Read the Blog-a-Book Series

Note from Susie: So….here’s the deal.  I’m so excited to say that I’m writing a brand new book  – a “vintage” story, an epic romantic suspense set in the roaring twenties through World War 2.  However…didn’t  know I’d be writing this when I set out to do Blog-A-Book. Unfortunately, there is only so much room in  my brain for stories…and right now dapper dans, flappers, bootlegging and the European theater are taking up all the space.  Rachel and I talked, and agreed to put B-A-B on hold for bit as I work on this new venture. But not to fear – expert book therapist and pal Rachel is taking over blogging for a season and she’ll be walking us through some craft and publishing industry elements you won’t want to […]

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Let’s talk Query Letters!

By on June 25, 2009 in Delivering Convincing Proposals, Want to see a book in Action? Read the Blog-a-Book Series

A query letter may be sent separately, before you send in your entire proposal, or it may take the form of a cover letter. It can be sent via email (check to make sure your intended recipient – agent or editor – accepts email format!), or hard copy. A query letter is your pitch…the what, why, and how’s of your story.   What makes a good query letter? 1. A compelling, succinct first paragraph hook (aka, premise/big bang) 2. A summary of your book in two-three sentences 3. An explanation of where your manuscript fits into the publishing world 4. Who you are and why you can successfully pull off this book 5. The mechanics of the manuscript – where you’re at in production.   Again, I cover this in […]

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